Like Benitez, the turtle initially seems like a fish out of water, but as Lawrence guides it back to the water, we understand it belongs in the church. Turtles, of course, also “exist between certainties” as amphibious animals, belonging wholly in two worlds. (Not tortoises, who exist solely on land, might I add. I was an animal nerd in school who would insufferably instruct my classmates on the difference between tortoises and turtles.)
But that Final Turtle’s symbolism goes even deeper than just being able to walk between worlds. Speaking to us at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, Carlos Diehz says that, with certain turtle species able to change sex, the final turtle is a “nod to the nature” of Benitez, but it also represents his—and Lawrence’s—“resilience”.
“They can live for so long, just taking things one pace at a time, one step at a time,” says Diehz. “At the end, when the turtle ends up close to Cardinal Lawrence, this turtle beat all the odds to make it all the way there. So he’s a reflection also on himself, not just on Benitez.”
And courtesy of director Edward Berger and writer Peter Straughan, who are an utterly delightful pair reading through your Conclave reviews, we have confirmation that not only are the turtles based on real Vatican turtles that do live there, but yes, Fiennes was handling a real-life turtle. (And Sergio Castellito was taking rips from a real-life vape.) That’s cinema, baby.
